“The reason that Xbox kept getting exclusivity and Sony didn’t is because Microsoft was willing to pay and the people at PlayStation weren’t,” he explained. “The difference now is that Adam Boyes is in charge of third-party negotiations rather than Rob Dyer, and he would probably like to get DLC exclusivity on the game. The other big change is that Rob reported to Jack Tretton, but now it’s Shawn Layden in charge, so maybe they will decide that it’s worth bidding on.”

However, Pachter continued that he doesn’t believe that the Redmond-based firm will be willing to give up on the series, and given its corporate-wide warchest, it may have enough resources to prolong its period of exclusivity – even if the Japanese giant joins the bidding. “Microsoft has more money than Sony period,” he added. “That’s not necessarily because of their gaming division, but because of their overall business. Alas, it means that they can pay whatever they want.”